Scottish Executive

Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many guardianship orders have been (a) sought and (b) granted since the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 came into effect, broken down by (i) age, (ii) gender and (iii) local authority area.

Hugh Henry: Figures provided by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) indicate that:

  (a) the number of financial, welfare and combined financial and welfare guardianship orders sought since part 6 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 came into effect on 1 April 2002 to 31 August 2004 is 1,264, and

  (b) the number of guardianship orders granted over the same period is 1,199.

  Table 1: Guardianship Orders (All Types) Sought and Granted by year

  

Year
Orders Sought
Orders Granted


2002-03
316
288


2003-04
625
593


1 April 04 to 31 August 04
323
318


Total
1,264
1,199



  For the period 1 April 2004 to 31 August 2004 a breakdown of guardianship orders granted by (i) age, (ii) gender and (iii) local authority area is as follows. A similar breakdown for the earlier periods is not available.

  Table 2: Guardianship Orders (All Types) Granted* by Age from 1 April 2004 to 31 August 2004

  

Age Range
 


16-30
30


31-45
26


46-60
35


60 plus
216


Undefined
11



  Table 3: Guardianship Orders (All Types) Granted* by Gender from 1 April 2004 to 31 August 2004

  

Female
212


Male
106



  Table 4: Guardianship Orders (All Types) Granted* by Local Authority Area from 1 April 2004 to 31 August 2004

  

Local Authority Area**
 


Aberdeen City
12


Aberdeenshire
18


Angus
8


Argyll and Bute
12


City of Edinburgh
28


Clackmannanshire
6


Dumfries and Galloway
13


Dundee City
3


East Ayrshire
2


East Dunbartonshire
5


East Lothian
6


East Renfrewshire
1


Eilean Siar
1


Falkirk
6


Fife
26


Glasgow City
18


Highland
19


Inverclyde
5


Midlothian
3


Moray
4


North Ayrshire
11


North Lanarkshire
12


Orkney
0


Perth and Kinross
14


Renfrewshire
3


Scottish Borders
4


Shetland Islands
2


South Ayrshire
13


South Lanarkshire
38


Stirling
9


West Dunbartonshire
2


West Lothian
13



  Notes:

  *The figures do not include any orders granted in August but not yet notified to the OPG.

  **The discrepancy of one between total orders granted and those ascribed to individual local authority areas may be attributable to the location of an adult’s property being outwith Scotland.

Agriculture

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the employment implications of the introduction of the Single Farm Payment Scheme will be within its Environment and Rural Affairs Department.

Ross Finnie: The planned reduction in the number of direct support schemes and the introduction of the Single Farm Payment Scheme will reduce the number of people employed on the administration of Pillar 1 Common Agricultural Policy Schemes, although this will be off-set by any new schemes required in the administration of modulated funds. In the short-term, staffing has increased because of the need to develop the new scheme while still running the old schemes.

Audiology

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce the waiting list for audiology treatment in the Lomond Division of NHS Argyll and Clyde.

Malcolm Chisholm: Whilst local action is a matter for NHS Argyll and Clyde, the Executive is committed to modernising and improving audiology services across NHSScotland. We are investing almost £20 million over the five-year period 2002-03 to 2006-07 to ensure NHS boards are equipped with the necessary facilities, equipment, staff and hearing aids to provide a modernised service.

  Each NHS board has its own action plan for modernisation and has therefore reached different stages in the modernisation process.

Birds

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the planned special protection area for the protection of certain bird species in Muirkirk and North Lowther Upland, proposed by Scottish National Heritage (SNH), has been classified by the Executive and proposed for integration into the European system of special protected areas and, if so, when, and how, such classification was published.

Allan Wilson: Muirkirk and North Lowther Uplands Special Protected Area (SPA) was classified by Scottish Ministers as a Special Protection Area under the EC Wild Birds Directive on 7 March 2003. This decision was communicated to the European Commission and the site forms part of the European network of Natura 2000 sites.

  I announced the classification of this site at an event attended by local stakeholders to launch an associated SNH moorland management scheme to provide financial incentives for local land managers for habitat improvement. I announced the classification of two other SPAs for hen harrier (Arran Moors and Galloway Moors) at the same event, along with related moorland management schemes which in total amount to a commitment of £2.34 million to protect and enhance the features of interest of these three sites in south west Scotland. The Scottish Executive issued an accompanying press release on 7 March 2003.

Business Rates

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider increasing the small business rate relief allowance in line with any increase in rateable values arising from revaluation for the purpose of business rates.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive will consider the impact of the 2005 revaluation of non-domestic property, which takes effect from 1 April 2005, on the small business rate relief scheme (SBRRS). The Scottish Executive aims to announce the 2005-06 poundage rate, the 2005-06 SBRRS supplement, whether or not transitional arrangements will be put in place at 1 April 2005 and what, if any, changes will be made to the rateable value thresholds of the SBRR and rural rate relief schemes in early November 2004.

Civil Servants

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its code of practice is in respect of public announcements by senior civil servants publicly stating their desire for a change in government policy.

Mr Andy Kerr: The civil service is a reserved matter and rules and guidance regarding the standards of conduct for civil servants are contained in the Civil Service Management Code , which includes the Civil Service Code .

  The Scottish Executive Staff Handbook sets out the requirement that staff should not take part in any political or public activity which compromises, or might be seen to compromise, their impartial service to the Government of the day or any future Government. The handbook sets out the standards of conduct required of Scottish Executive staff and these are consistent with both the Civil Service Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

Climate Change

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it has had into plans by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to develop a climate change communications strategy.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is in on-going discussion with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on its plans to develop a climate change communications strategy. We are working with Defra in considering options for Scotland stemming from a UK Government climate change communications strategy, including the relationship with the Executive’s existing environmental awareness campaign, Do a little: Change a lot.

Climate Change

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how the activities of the Energy Savings Trust and the Carbon Trust in Scotland will be affected by the climate change communications strategy being developed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Ross Finnie: It is too early to say how the activities of the Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust in Scotland might be affected by the proposed UK Government climate change communications strategy. However, we are encouraging Scottish representatives of both bodies to engage with their UK counterparts, who are represented on the project steering group, during the development process.

Crofters Commission

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list areas of land owned by (a) it and (b) the Crofters Commission and used for the Livestock Improvement Scheme administered by the Crofters Commission in each of the last 10 years that have been sold to third parties, detailing (i) the name and acreage of plot sold, (ii) sale price and (iii) the name of the purchaser and whether it will produce a plan of the land sold in each year.

Allan Wilson: All the land used for the purposes of the Livestock Improvement Scheme over the last 10 years has been land owned originally by the Secretary of State for Scotland and now owned by Scottish ministers. Details of sales in the last 10 years, of land used for Livestock Improvement Scheme purposes are as follows:

  

 
Description of Land
Area in Hectares
Sale Price
(£)
Date of Sale
Purchaser


1.
Beechwood 
Land adjacent to cottage No. 4

 
0.011

 
1,000

 
15/12/2003
 
Andrew Waugh


2.
Beechwood 
Land at Cradlehall Farm Road

 
 0.361

 
7,500

 
31/10/2003
 
Tulloch Homes Limited


3.
Knocknagael
No. 6 Knocknagael land and building

 0.110

22,500

3/4/1996
Hector Jack Macdonald and Catherine Medley Macdonald


4.
Wester Aberchalder
Farm

 841.028

380,000

11/11/1994
Hon. Alexander Andrew MacDonell Fraser


5.
Wester Aberchalder
Land adjoining north bungalow

 0.024

100

23/10/1995
Mary Campbell and Catherine Campbell


6.
Wester Aberchalder
Land adjoining south bungalow

 0.082

100

3/11/1995
Archibald Neil Kirkland and Fiona Mary Latham


7.
Wester Aberchalder
Land adjoining kennel cottage

 0.236

2,200

11/1/1996
Iain Murdo MacLeod Stoddart



  Plans of all the properties showing the areas which have been sold and of each of the plots which have been sold will be lodged in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33746).

Economy

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the real gross domestic product was for each year since 1999 in purchasing power parity per capita expressed in US dollars, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Jim Wallace: Real Gross Domestic Product is not available for Scotland. However, an approximation can be calculated by applying Scotland’s ratio of UK gross value added (GVA) per head at current prices to the figures published by WHO. This gives the following, which assumes that Scottish prices have behaved in the same way as in the UK overall.

  

 
1999
2000
2001
2002


UK GDP per head ($US PPP)
23,741 
24,933 
24,160 
28,000


Scottish % of UK GVA per head
95.8
95.2
94.4
94.6


Estimated Scottish GDP per head ($US PPP)
22,744 
23,736 
22,807 
26,488 



  Source: WHO European health for all database, ONS.

  The UK figures have been extracted from the WHO database. It should be noted that they show a different pattern to the equivalent estimates from Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD), which would be a preferred source for economic indicators.

Environment

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed penalty notices were issued for littering since July 2003, broken down by local authority area.

Ross Finnie: This information is not held centrally.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce individual transferable quotas to the fishing industry and whether it considers that the impact of such a policy would be damaging to the industry.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is currently considering its response to the No 10 Strategy Unit report Net Benefits: A sustainable and profitable future for UK fishing . The introduction of individual transferable quota (ITQ) is one of the recommendations within the report. No decision on the implementation of ITQ has been made. The Scottish Executive working closely with a range of key stakeholders, will carefully consider a range of economic and other data before reaching a view.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in securing additional monkfish quotas.

Ross Finnie: New scientific information generated by the Fisheries Research Service in partnership with the Scottish fishing industry has been made available to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management is scheduled to publish advice on monkfish for fisheries managers on 22 October. By way of immediate action, we have secured around 705 tonnes of monkfish quota in international swaps with other member states during the course of this year and we will continue to pursue this avenue in the coming weeks.

Genetically Modified Crops

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent inscription of 17 MON 810 maize varieties to the EU common seed catalogue, what steps it will take to prevent cultivation of these varieties before a comprehensive coexistence and liability regime is in place in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: These varieties have been bred for southern European conditions and have been modified to carry resistance to the European corn-borer; a problem pest in southern Europe, but not in Scotland. They do not, therefore, represent a viable alternative to the varieties already available to Scottish growers. With regard to co-existence, the Executive has made a commitment to introduce statutory measures to enable producers to meet public demand for non-GM produce. The Executive is aiming to introduce these measures in advance of any commercial planting of GM crops in Scotland and intends to launch a formal consultation later this year.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reinstate the Scottish Key Indicators Package for Performance (SKIPPER) database and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: The SKIPPER package was originally developed by ISD Scotland, in the mid 1990s, as a means of supporting NHSScotland in planning and performance management. It is based on old pre-web technology and is expensive to maintain, distribute and support. Difficulties have increased with the introduction and use of more modern operating systems (e.g. Windows 2000) where the successful installation of SKIPPER requires much more effort.

  Finally, the knowledge that the system needed substantial development to reflect changes in information requirements and organisational changes in NHSScotland led ISD Scotland to conclude that it was not viable to continue to support SKIPPER.

  The final release of SKIPPER was at end of May 2004. Before reaching a final decision ISD Scotland reviewed to what extent there were alternative sources to the SKIPPER screens. In some cases SKIPPER duplicated information published on the ISD Scotland website. Indeed, ISD Scotland found that the majority of SKIPPER screens had an alternative source, although not necessarily with the same level of detail. ISD is committed to continual improvement of the contents of its website and is confident that, in time, much of the useful information, previously on SKIPPER, can be made available through the web.

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the age-standardised death rate for malignant neoplasms was per 100,000 head of population for people (a) aged 0 to 64, (b) aged 65 or over and (c) of all ages in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the question S2W-10305 answered on 22 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the age-standardised death rate for trachea, bronchus and lung cancer was per 100,000 head of population for people (a) aged 0 to 64, (b) aged 65 or over and (c) of all ages in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the question S2W-10305 answered on 22 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of nurses working in hospitals was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has commissioned work to publish the Scottish figures for data contained in the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe report: Health for All .

  This will be available in due course and will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33907).

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of in-patient care admissions was per 100 head of population in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of all hospital admissions was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the bed occupancy rate was in acute care hospitals expressed as a percentage in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the age-standardised death rate was per 100,000 head of population for appendicitis for people (a) aged 0 to 64 and (b) of all ages in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the age-standardised death rate was per 100,000 head of population for hernia and intestinal obstruction for people (a) aged 0 to 64 and (b) of all ages in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the age-standardised death rate was per 100,000 head of population for adverse effects of therapeutic agents for people (a) aged 0 to 64 and (b) of all ages in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what total health expenditure was as a percentage of gross domestic product in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of all live births was to mothers aged (a) under 20 years and (b) 35 or over in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of all live births was to mothers aged (a) under 20 years and (b) 35 or over in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of live births was weighing 2,500 grams or more in year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of infants vaccinated against tetanus was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of infants vaccinated against pertussis was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of infants vaccinated against invasive disease due to Haemophilus influenzae type b was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of infants vaccinated against mumps was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of infants vaccinated against rubella was in each year since 1999, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the question S2W-10305 answered on 22 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Hepatitis

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to tackle the growth of hepatitis C infection.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer question S2W-9189 on 1 July 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Hepatitis

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its hepatitis C action plan.

Malcolm Chisholm: The aim is to publish the Hepatitis C Action Plan later in the year.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints were made against each housing association in each of the last five years and how many such complaints were subsequently investigated.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive, Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The information requested is not held centrally.

  The information requested may be available from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints of corruption were made against each housing association in each of the last five years and how many such complaints were subsequently investigated.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive, Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The information requested is not held centrally.

  The information requested may be available from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal obligations there are on housing associations to explain rent increases to residents.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive, Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 introduced the Scottish Secure Tenancy (SST) for tenants of local authorities and registered social landlords, including housing associations registered with Communities Scotland. Under the SST landlords must give tenants not less than four weeks notice in writing, before increasing rents or other charges. Prior to increasing rents landlords must first consult with those tenants who would be affected. Landlords are required to have regard to the views expressed by those consulted.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of (a) households and (b) people on housing waiting lists has been in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years, expressed also as a percentage of the population in each case.

Ms Margaret Curran: The numbers of applicant households on waiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for 2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series)  Housing Trends in Scotland. Table 16 in the latest bulletin HSG/2004/4 published August 2004 shows the snapshot position as at 31 March 2004 as well as changes to the lists during 2003-04. This publication can be accessed on-line through publications section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website ( www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref ). The published figures for 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 can also be found on the housing statistics website in the housing trends bulletins HSG/2001/6, HSG/2002/3 and HSG/2003/4 respectively.

  This data collection began in 2001 and data are not centrally available prior to that date. The numbers reported to the Scottish Executive are for applicant households and do not specify the number of people within each household.

  The projections of the numbers of households by local authority area for the relevant years are available in the data library section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/EAS/00014844/DataLibrary.aspx.

Junior Doctors

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many rotas covering junior doctors in NHS Argyll and Clyde are compliant with the EU Working Time Directive, broken down by speciality.

Malcolm Chisholm: We do not hold rota information for junior doctors in training. However, the following table provides details of NHS Argyll and Clyde’s assessment of the number of junior doctors in training who are compliant with the requirements of the Working Time Regulations (WTR), as at 1 August 2004. I hope you find this information useful.

  Analysis by Speciality – Argyll and Clyde

  

 
Specialty
Number of Doctors in Training1


WTR Compliant at 16-06-044
Expected to be WTR Compliant at 01-/08-042,4
Total


Accident and Emergency
24
24
24


Anaesthetics
10
20
20


General Medicine
48
50
55


Geriatrics
0
5
5


Paediatrics
13
13
13


Obstetrics and Gynaecology
21
21
21


General Psychiatry
9
26
26


ENT Surgery
4
4
4


General Surgery
25
42
46


Ophthalmology
2
2
2


Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
0
8
14


Unknown3
5
5
5


Totals
161
220
235


Percentages
68.5%
93.6%
100.0%



  Notes:

  1. These figures do not include GP Registrars.

  2. Figures are board predictions for the number of doctors in training expected to be WTR compliant at 1 August 2004.

  3. An unknown rota occurs where the return has provided insufficient information to distinguish which of the above specialities apply.

  4. Compliance with the European Working Time Regulations includes working no longer than 58 hours per week, taking a minimum 11 hours rest in a 24 hour period, and receiving four weeks' paid annual leave.

Junior Doctors

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many rotas covering junior doctors in NHS Argyll and Clyde are not compliant with the EU Working Time Directive, broken down by speciality.

Malcolm Chisholm: We do not hold rota information for doctors in training. However, the following table provides details of NHS Argyll and Clyde’s assessment of the number of doctors, broken down by specialities who are non-compliant with the requirements of the Working Time Regulations (WTR), as at 1 August 2004. I hope you find this information useful.

  Analysis by Speciality – Argyll and Clyde

  

 
Specialty
Number of Doctors in Training1


WTR Non-Compliant at 16-06-044
Expected to be WTR Non-Compliant at 01-08-042,4
Total


Accident and Emergency
0
0
24


Anaesthetics
10
0
20


General Medicine
7
5
55


Geriatrics
5
0
5


Paediatrics
0
0
13


Obstetrics and Gynaecology
0
0
21


General Psychiatry
17
0
26


ENT Surgery
0
0
4


General Surgery
21
4
46


Ophthalmology
0
0
2


Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
14
6
14


Unknown3
0
0
5


Totals
74
15
235


Percentages
31.5%
6.4%
100%



  Notes:

  1. These figures do not include GP Registrars.

  2. Figures are board predictions for the number of doctors in training expected to be WTR non-compliant at 1 August 2004.

  3. An unknown rota occurs where the return has provided insufficient information to distinguish which of the above specialties apply.

  4. Compliance with the European Working Time Regulations includes working no longer than 58 hours per week, taking a minimum 11 hours rest in a 24 hour period, and receiving four weeks' paid annual leave.

Land

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to increase the range of options within, and the funding of, the land management contract.

Ross Finnie: We are currently considering the responses to the consultation on the Land Management Contract (LMC) Menu Scheme, paying particular regard to the range of measures suitable for inclusion in the scheme. Funding issues are being considered as part of this process. We aim to introduce the scheme in 2005, subject to approval from the European Commission. Work is also on-going to look at development of the LMC approach in 2006 and beyond.

Medical Students

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many medical students graduate from each university medical faculty on average each year and what percentage of those graduates are subsequently placed in Scottish hospitals in the year after their graduation.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Mr Jim Wallace: In order to complete their basic medical education and obtain registration with the General Medical Council, graduates of UK medical schools must currently undertake a one-year Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) post within the NHS.

  The following table shows information reported to the NHS on the number of graduates from each Scottish medical school who were eligible to apply to UK PRHO allocation schemes for entry in the year following graduation and the percentage share who were placed in a Scottish hospital. This information is given for the latest two years for which information is available.

  Medical Graduates from Scottish Medical Schools1 and Share Taking Up PRHO Posts in Scotland, 2002-03

  

 
2002
2003


Medical Graduates
Share of graduates taking up PRHO posts in Scotland
Medical Graduates
Share of graduates taking up PRHO posts in Scotland


University of Aberdeen
160
92%
185
94%


University of Dundee
129
91%
163
83%


University of Edinburgh
237
92%
177
93%


University of Glasgow
275
96%
263
94%


Total
801
93%
788
91%



  Source: NHS Education for Scotland.

  Note: 1. Although St Andrews University offers medical courses, these provide pre-clinical qualifications only. The clinical component of medical courses undertaken by students at St Andrews is taken at the University of Manchester. For this reason St Andrews is not included in the table.

Mental Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9324 by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 July 2004 regarding funding for patient advocacy in psychiatric hospitals, what the allocation of funding was to each relevant authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 which comes into effect in April 2005 includes a right for anyone with a mental disorder to access independent advocacy services. This right will apply whether the person is a patient in a psychiatric hospital or receiving care or treatment for mental disorder in their local community settings.

  Funding from the Scottish Executive is provided to cover all aspects of the new mental health act’s implementation. Each local authority then allocates funding according to its priorities. The allocation to each local authority from the Scottish Executive to fund implementation of the new act for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 is as follows:

  Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, Implementation

  

(£000)
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Aberdeen City 
50
523
544


Aberdeenshire
53
560
583


Angus
26
267
278


Argyll and Bute
21
225
234


Clackmannanshire
11
119
123


Dumfries and Galloway
34
365
379


Dundee City 
34
359
373


East Ayrshire
28
297
309


East Dunbartonshire 
26
267
278


East Lothian 
21
223
231


East Renfrewshire 
21
221
230


Edinburgh, City of
106
1,108
1,153


Eilean Siar
6
65
68


Falkirk 
34
359
373


Fife 
82
863
898


Glasgow City 
143
1,428
1,486


Highland 
49
516
536


Inverclyde
20
208
216


Midlothian 
19
200
208


Moray
20
215
223


North Ayrshire
33
335
349


North Lanarkshire 
77
793
824


Orkney
5
47
49


Perth and Kinross
31
333
346


Renfrewshire
42
427
444


Scottish Borders
25
264
275


Shetland
5
54
56


South Ayrshire
27
277
288


South Lanarkshire 
72
746
776


Stirling 
20
213
221


West Dunbartonshire 
22
230
240


West Lothian 
36
393
408

Mental Health

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been sectioned under mental health legislation since the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 came into effect, broken down by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has supplied the following figures. Mental health statistics are not available according to local authority as they are collected by Health Board area. Further detail may be obtained from the Commission’s Annual Report.

  Table 1: Episodes of Detention Initiated Under Section 18 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 by Age and Gender, Since April 2000

  

Age Range
Male
Female
Total


01-14
*
*
10


15-24
387
204
591


25-44
1,231
786
2,017


45-64
576
548
1,124


65-84
327
410
737


85-
27
62
89



  Note: **Figures for children 1 to 14 by gender are omitted due to very small numbers.

  Table 2: Detentions Initiated Under Section 18 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act by Health Board Area, for Each Year, from April 2000 to April 2004

  

Health Board
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Argyll and Clyde
109
89
103
112


Ayrshire and Arran
88
74
77
96


Borders
27
35
42
24


Dumfries and Galloway
42
40
39
48


Fife
54
88
81
81


Forth Valley
44
43
49
36


Grampian
107
98
103
97


Greater Glasgow
201
214
195
228


Highland
46
51
53
50


Lanarkshire
78
93
72
101


Lothian
192
208
222
213


Tayside
90
100
123
101


Western Isles
**
**
**
**



  Note: **Figures for Western Isles are omitted due to very small numbers.

NHS Expenditure

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any shortfalls in the budgets of NHS boards due to lack of payment to them by neighbouring boards.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS boards are still agreeing 2004-05 uplifts in respect of service level agreements (SLA’s) with neighbouring NHS boards. Until these are agreed, NHS boards will not be in a position to identify shortfalls in budgets due to lack of payment to them by neighbouring boards.

  The Executive is aware that a number of boards have made assumptions within their budget plans regarding cross boundary flows and that these will need to be resolved further to the agreement of SLA’s.

NHS Expenditure

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which operating divisions of NHS Argyll and Clyde met the budget they were set for 2003-04.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which operating divisions of NHS Argyll and Clyde did not meet the budget they were set for 2003-04 and what the level of overspend was in each case.

Malcolm Chisholm: Further to the dissolution of NHS trusts, the Scottish Executive monitors the financial performance of NHSScotland on a board wide basis. It is a local matter for NHS boards to monitor the financial performance of operating divisions.

  The information requested above is not held centrally by the Executive.

NHS Expenditure

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what savings have been identified by NHS Argyll and Clyde for 2004-05, broken down also into individual operating divisions and (a) indicating monetary value, (b) shown as a percentage of (i) NHS Argyll and Clyde’s total budget and (ii) the operating division’s budget and (c) shown as a proportion of the population for each division.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS Argyll and Clyde have set a savings target of £14 million for 2004-05. These are "real" savings and are in addition to withdrawing all discretionary "developments" from the Local Health Plan.

  The savings per division as a percentage of the board’s unified budget allocation are as follows:

  

 
Total Savings
(£000)
Budget (%)


Greater Renfrewshire
4,400
0.8


Lomond and Argyll
4,200
0.8


Inverclyde
5,400
1.0


Total
14,000
2.6



  The total savings per division cannot be shown as a percentage of each operating division’s budget or as a proportion of the population for each division as this information is not held centrally by the department.

NHS Expenditure

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9983 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 September 2004, what (a) national and (b) local cost pressures have been identified by NHS Argyll and Clyde that are not covered by its allocations from the Executive for 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive issues an overall allocation to NHS boards which aims to give each board its fair share of the resources available nationally. Allocations are not made in relation to specific local or national cost pressures. Instead NHS boards are expected to manage within the overall allocations available supplemented by any other sources of funding.

  Given this position, it is not possible to identify specific national or local cost pressures which are not covered by allocations from the Executive. However, as stated in the answer to question S2W-9983 the basic uplift provided to NHS boards in 2003-04 and 2004-05 is expected to cover all national cost pressures.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been treated by the Vale of Leven Hospital Accident and Emergency Department in the last year of its operation.

Malcolm Chisholm: There were 18,928 attendances at the Vale of Leven Hospital Accident and Emergency Department in the year ending 31 December 2003.

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been treated by the Vale of Leven Hospital Medical Assessment Unit since its inception.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been transferred from the Vale of Leven, Dumbarton and Helensburgh to receive emergency treatment at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley in the last year.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been transferred from the Vale of Leven, Dumbarton and Helensburgh to receive emergency treatment at a hospital outwith NHS Argyll and Clyde boundaries in the last year.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estate revenue costs are for the (a) Dumbarton Joint Hospital and (b) Helensburgh Victoria Infirmary.

Malcolm Chisholm: The estate revenue costs for Dumbarton Joint Hospital and Helensburgh Victoria Infirmary are £647,000 and £436,000 respectively. These are the latest published figures and relate to financial year 2002-03.

  Estate revenue costs are taken to be property costs, and include costs such as property maintenance, cleaning, utilities, rent and rates, rental/repair of furniture and capital charges.

NHS Staff

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of hours lost as a result of sickness absence has been per NHS employee in each (a) hospital and (b) NHS board area in each of the last five years or for the most recent years for which figures are available.

Malcolm Chisholm: The overall time lost due to sickness absence for the three years 2000-01 to 2002-03 for which pilot data is available is set out at Section A of the May 2004 publication entitled NHSScotland Occupational Health and Safety Minimum Dataset Pilot Data . The pilot data is provided by organisation type, Scotland, acute trusts, primary care trusts and health boards and special health boards not providing health care and can be accessed on the Information Statistics Division of NHS National Services Scotland website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/040525_web.pdf .

NHS Staff

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many widowers who are retired or active NHS workers would be eligible for NHS pension payments in respect of their pensionable service between March 1972 and April 1988 if entitlement to such payments were to be extended to them.

Tavish Scott: The information requested is not available. The records of active and retired members of the NHS Superannuation Scheme maintained by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency do not contain information about whether the individuals concerned are widowed.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in which clinical areas there are consultant shortages and what the scale of such shortages is.

Malcolm Chisholm: Vacancies in any staff group are a normal part of staff turnover. One indication of shortage areas can be derived from hard to fill posts which have been vacant for six months or more.

  Table B11 on the ISD Scotland website (www.isdscotland.org/workforce) contains such information by each specialty. It is currently correct to 30 September 2003.

  The Scottish Executive has a Partnership Agreement commitment to increase the number of NHS consultants by 600 by 2006.

NHS Waiting Times

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for an assessment for a (a) heart-lung, (b) heart and (c) lung transplant in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: As the length of time someone has to wait for such an assessment is directly related to the person’s condition, the average waiting time would not be meaningful.

National Health Service

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any plans to provide dedicated facilities for detoxification and rehabilitation for substance misuse in each NHS board area.

Hugh Henry: It is for local Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAAT) to design and deliver services in their areas tailored to local needs and circumstances. Local service planners and providers already have access to a range of clinical guidance and advice on good practice provided by the Executive.

  According to DAAT returns to the Executive, detoxification and community rehabilitation services are already available in each NHS board area.

Organ Transplants

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been waiting for a heart-lung transplant operation in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: A total of six patients with a Scottish postcode have been placed on the waiting list for a heart-lung transplant since 1999. Because of the small number of patients involved, it is not possible to give the figure for each year on grounds of patient confidentiality.

Organ Transplants

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time for a heart-lung transplant has been in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is not possible to give an average waiting time because of the small number of patients involved. The length of time a person has to wait for a transplant is dependent on a suitable donor organ becoming available.

Pharmacists

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs were incurred by community pharmacists in complying with requirements of the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service last year.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS community pharmacists are required by their terms of service to carry out point of dispensing checks on patients’ claims for exemption from prescription charges. This requirement is taken into account in the NHS community pharmacy remuneration package, but the cost is not separately identified.

Planning

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many late responses were received to its consultation on rights of appeal in planning and whether any such responses were rejected due to failure to meet the consultation deadline.

Ms Margaret Curran: As of 31 August, 356 responses had been received since the consultation closed on 30 July 2004. No responses have been rejected.

Police

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2716 by Cathy Jamieson on 17 June 2004, what the specific timescale is for introducing legislation to establish an independent police complaints body.

Cathy Jamieson: As the First Minister said when he addressed Parliament on 7 September 2004, we plan in the coming year to consult on a new Scottish Police Bill which will include measures to reform the police complaints system.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many compliance checks the NHS Prescription Pricing Authority carried out in Scotland last year.

Malcolm Chisholm: None. The Prescription Pricing Authority is not responsible for checking Scottish patients’ compliance with NHS prescription charging arrangements.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether implementation of the Scottish Ministers’ Code of Practice on the Discharge of Functions by Public Authorities under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 will mean that contracts for any new private prisons will be published.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The code of practice offers guidance to Scottish public authorities on the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The act does not require publication in every case. The SPS will decide on the extent of publication of any future the SPS contract for private prisons on the merits of each case. Given the Executive’s commitment to openness, such contracts entered into by the SPS will as in the past, normally be published by the SPS subject to appropriate protection of material exempt under the act to safeguard, for example, commercial interests or security and good order in prisons.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoner receptions there were by (a) the Scottish Prison Service and (b) HM Prison Kilmarnock in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Information in the form requested is not readily available. The available information on prisoner receptions covering the last five years is published in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin.

  Copies of the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. reference 33610).

Public Sector

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is with regard to public sector efficiency savings; what targets have been set, and how such targets have been made known to the Parliament.

Mr Andy Kerr: On the 24 June 2004 I announced to Parliament that the Scottish Executive would set out a three year plan to attack waste, bureaucracy and duplication in Scotland’s public sector and to increase productivity in Scotland’s public sector. I also announced that the immediate goal was to deliver efficiency savings of £500 million from the financial year 2007-08, rising to £1 billion by 2010. Our Efficient Government plan will show that we will exceed this target and secure £650 million in efficiency savings by 2007-08.

Rail Services

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of rolling stock leasing charges paid in each year since 1998-99.

Nicol Stephen: This is a matter for the train operating companies, and this information is not held centrally.

Rail Services

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role is envisaged for the national transport agency in relation to the regulation of rolling stock leasing charges.

Nicol Stephen: Rolling stock leasing charges are not regulated. There are therefore no plans for the Scottish transport agency to take on this role.

Renewable Energy

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding is being allocated to support marine energy development in 2004.

Lewis Macdonald: The investment plan of £7.5 million announced earlier this year by one of Scotland’s leading marine energy developers includes an equity investment of over £1.5 million by the Carbon Trust, a company whose investment activities in Scotland are funded by the Scottish Executive.

  We are working with colleagues in the DTI on the details of the £50 million UK marine renewables support fund announced by the UK Government last month, and we will also consider how best the Executive can support connections for new marine energy development in Scotland.

Smoking

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public meetings it has held as part of its consultation on smoking in public places; where such meetings have been held; who the panellists were, and how many people attended each event.

Mr Tom McCabe: Four large public seminars were organised by the Scottish Executive, as follows:

  

Location
Number Attending
Chair
Panelists


Dundee 
113
Drew Walker,
NHS Tayside
Tom McCabe, MSP


Paul Waterston, Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA)


Maureen Moore, ASH Scotland


Paul Ballard, NHS Tayside 


Glasgow 
237
Debbie Wilkie, Scottish Civic Forum
(SCF)
Tom McCabe, MSP


Paul Waterston, SLTA


Maureen Moore, ASH Scotland


Laurence Gruer, NHS Health Scotland


Jim Devine, UNISON


Inverness 
93
Debbie Wilkie, SCF
Tom McCabe, MSP


Paul Waterston, SLTA


Maureen Moore, ASH Scotland


John Wrench, NHS Highland


Bruce Crabtree, GMB


Aberdeen 
124
Debbie Wilkie, SCF
Tom McCabe, MSP


Stuart Ross, SLTA


James Friend, NHS Health Scotland


Maureen Moore, ASH Scotland


Kenny Simpson, GMB



  In addition, the Scottish Civic Forum held a further 11 smaller events in local communities across Scotland, as outlined in the following table. There were no official panel sessions, although we understand that in some areas invited guests spoke to attendees at the request of local participants.

  

Location
Number Attending


Aberfoyle
16


Glenrothes
34


Granton, Edinburgh
24


Kilmarnock 
16


Stranraer
17


Livingston 
25


Falkirk 
40


Dalkeith
15


Ardrossan
16


Greenock 
17


Galashiels
Not Known



  Note: Additional seminar held on 27 September, at the request of NHS Borders

Smoking

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of organising and holding public meetings on smoking in public places.

Mr Tom McCabe: Final invoices have not yet been received, but costs will be no more than £25,000. This includes facilitator costs for all events and the preparation of a report of proceedings by Scottish Civic Forum, which will feed into the final evidence report to ministers on the consultation.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Live Testing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S2W-10102 by Mr George Reid on 8 September 2004, on what basis it was decided to exclude MSPs’ staff from the live testing.

George Reid: The issue was not one of excluding MSP’s staff from live testing. On the contrary, this was but one of a number of commissioning and testing exercises carried out by parliament staff during the migration period.

Opening Ceremony

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what steps it has taken as part of its participation policy for involvement in the opening of the Parliament to include MSPs’ staff in its plans and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

George Reid: Notices inviting MSPs’ staff to submit their names for the role of ushers at the opening of Parliament were issued to both MSPs and parliamentary staff. Many responses have been received and all staff are now working together and will be involved in every aspect of the day.

Opening Ceremony

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body why MSPs’ staff were excluded from the staff ballot for tickets for the official opening of the Parliament.

George Reid: MSPs’ staff were not included in the staff ballot as they are not employed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.

Opening Ceremony

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S2W-10103 by George Reid on 20 September 2004, whether there will be a ballot for MSPs’ staff to participate in the Parliament’s opening day as guests on the same basis as for its staff.

George Reid: A ballot will not be held for MSPs’ staff to participate in the Parliament’s opening day as guests. However, a large number of MSPs’ staff are very much involved in the opening as both they and SPCB staff are presently working together in teams to make the Opening Ceremony a success.

Parliament Artwork

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether there are any plans to acquire the Mercy and Justice statues that were situated in the pre-1707 Parliament for Holyrood.

George Reid: There are no plans to acquire these statues. Phase 1 of the Parliament’s Art Strategy is now complete and decisions on the nature of phase 2 will be considered by the SPCB next year.

Parliament Building

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it expects the landscaping in the vicinity of the Parliament building to be completed.

George Reid: : The current programme for the landscaping work targets a completion date of 9 October; the date of the formal opening of the building by Her Majesty the Queen. A small area of ground will, however, remain bare until the tree planting season in November.

Parliament Building

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether there will be any additional signage at the public entrance to the Parliament building.

George Reid: As part of the landscaping works for the building, permanent signage will be installed shortly at the public entrance to the Parliament, to replace the temporary signage, as well as at Queensberry House and the passholders entrance to the Parliament on the Canongate. Permanent directional signage will also be installed at the public entrance, and at prominent locations around the exterior of the building.